439 Mountain Region
by Team7Star
Summary: Son Goku and his older brother Raditz live in the 439 Mountain Region. It is forbidden to leave individual regions, or else instant death from the strange border guards called Utopians. Goku and his brother aren't even allowed to leave the house, their mother thinks the outside world is too dangerous. But the two want out. Inspired by The Hunger Games, written by Son A.
1. Entry 1

**Another new story?! Yeah. I AM working on Hunt, but I am feeling it with this story more. I've already got 3 chapters of this baby all ready to go, so fast updates for this one.**

**I also don't own DBZ. Just Saiyan. *badoom tss* :D**

Entry 1:

My name is Kakarot. I am 15 years old and I live in the 439 Mountain Region. We aren't supposed to leave our individual regions. My mother wants me and my brother to be safe, so she doesn't even let us out of our house.

The only time I've seen the outside world was when I was about 5, and I opened the window curtain a crack. My sights did not wander long, for my mother caught me and I was grounded for a week.

My father says my brother and I are too sickly looking, too pale and skinny, and wants to take us to work with him. My mother hates it when he says things like that. My father is tall, and tan from working in the sun. He's not one to joke; our state of living has taken away his sense of humor. He thinks it's fine to leave the house, just not the region border.

He told my me and my brother a story about when he was a teenager, he and his friend wanted to escape the confinements of the region, so he crossed the border. He didn't get far. Only about 2 feet from the border line, the "watchers" we call them, attacked them. My father escaped with an X shaped scar on his cheek, and his friend died. It was that reason my mother got interested in my father, for his bravery, or as she calls it nowadays, stupidity. He brought his friend home with him, and tried to tend to his wounds with a handkerchief his friend always carried around with him, but to no avail. Once the cloth was soaked with blood, he saw it was no use and tied the handkerchief around his head, vowing to never take it off in honor of his best friend.

He has always held a grudge against the "watchers", always flipping the middle finger at any camera he could find them watching us through, and then destroying it. My mother doesn't like that, in fact, my mother doesn't seem to like many things.

My father always told that story with great emotion, always yelling when he got to the gory part, scaring me and my brother.

My brother thinks we are odd. He's 5 years older than me and his name is Raditz. When he was younger, my mother bought him some books to read since the schools were shut down. My mother would have the teacher come to the house, and made sure we stayed clear of the door when it opened. After awhile, she started to make us pay, and we just didn't have that money. Shortly after, the schools stopped. I was about 6 then.

I used to look at the books, but only the pictures, since I had no idea how to read. In all the pictures, none of the children had brown monkey tails, none of the hairs on their cartoon-like heads were quite as spiky as ours. I used to wonder if all children looked like that. So I wouldn't upset my mother, I asked my brother if every child looked like they did in the books, and he nodded.

"At least I think so," he had said, crossing his bony arms across his chest. "We ain't normal Kakarot. We're the odd ones."

I remember looking up at him with a smile. "That ain't nothin' to be happy 'bout," Raditz frowned, flattening my bangs into my eyes. As I swiped the pesky hair away, Raditz kept talking. "If Momma ever lets us outta this house, them kids are gonna pick on us, they be pullin' our tails and tuggin' our hair, pointin' and laughin' and all the other horrible things them outdoors kids do."

"But you'll protect me, right?" I remember asking, hoping he would take on the big brother role for me.

"Nah, you gotta learn how to care for yourself, kid. Survival of the fittest, right K?" he said with a dirty smirk, reciting the only quote he had ever bothered to memorize during the 11 years of his life.

I must admit Raditz didn't have the best grasp on grammar at that time, but then again, he still doesn't. None of us do. Anybody who talked with the slightest thought of grammar is now long gone, and the schools wouldn't teach anything worthwhile, so everyone talks like that.

My mother thinks it's strange, that I write things like this in perfect grammar, but I still talk like my brother did all those 10 years ago. I guess after I learned how to read, I picked up on the grammar in my brother's old books.

I guess it's just an easier way to talk. Not having to remember to say aren't or isn't instead of ain't, that's just what I'm used to. My mother says I'm going to be a great writer when I'm older, unlike Raditz.

My mother also says Raditz is a lazy bum at age 20, not working at all like my father. I think she shouldn't be talking, because she's the one who won't even let us look out the window.

My mother says I take after my father, with the same hair and face, except for my eyes, which look like my mother's. My brother looks like my father in the face, but his hair sort of resembles my mother's. Long and spiky, almost like those hedgehogs I see in my books.

My father on the other hand, says things like, "Kakarot, you're too weak and soft-hearted, you ain't gonna get nowhere in life without muscles like these." Then he flexes his arm muscles. I know my father loves me, but he seems to favor my brother. Maybe it's because he's older and a carbon copy of him personality-wise.

My hand is really starting to hurt; I haven't written this much in a while, not since my last journal, but I lost that one. I guess it's nice to start fresh. I'll write more later.

**It's a good start, eh? Sorry if the way they talk annoys you, I think it "enhances" the feel of the story. R&R**


	2. Entry 2

**I've had this chapter written for who knows how long, and I've just been too lazy to post it. I was all like, "Ugh, I wanna post a story, but I don't know what..." Then I'd search my Google Drive trying to find something. I give you full permission to slap me. :c **

**And I don't own DBZ.**

Entry 2:

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Kakarot. The only thing he wished for in life was to be able to cross the line between Region 439 and Region 440. Aw, who am I kidding, that's never going to happen. Not unless my mother finally goes insane.

My mother went out to shop in the town square today. We were running low on food. My mother says us men in the house eat like pigs, and we empty the pantry so fast, she hardly even has the food to make dinner that night.

It was just me and my brother at home, my dad was out working, probably breaking more "watcher" cameras. Naturally, Raditz was bored. And even more naturally, he decided to do something bad.

"Hey K," he said this morning, a few minutes after my mother had left. He nudged me in the ribs, hard.

"What?" I snapped.

"Let's go outside," he said. "I'm bored."

I shook my head. "Imagine what Momma would do t' us if she found out we were outdoors!" I exclaimed.

Raditz merely waved a hand. "Aw, there ain't nothin' to be afraid of, I can handle Momma when she's mad. My treat bro, I'll do the talkin', you won't hafta do nothin'."

"I ain't going out." I protested.

"Sure you ain't." Raditz replied, scowling. "I know you wanna go outside just as much as I wanna. Maybe even more." He was right. I did want to go outside more than anything else.

"I'll look out the window, but that's it. You ain't gettin' me to do nothin' else, you understand?"

Raditz nodded, obviously disappointed in me. "I hear ya, I hear ya." He grabbed my arm and pulled me to the window next to the front door, the only window in our house. "You wanna do the honors?" Raditz asked sarcastically, motioning to the curtain and bowing.

"Sure, whatever," I said like I wasn't worried.

I swear, my hand was shaking as I reached out to pull back the curtain. I yanked the curtain over, and winced. The light sure was bright. Raditz did the same. Neither of us had ever seen light like this.

Outside looked wonderful. I saw the women talking in the shade of the houses' canopies, and there were kids running around, kicking around some sort of ball. They all looked so happy, their baggy clothes stained with the dust from the dirt ground. They were kids of all ages, from near Raditz's age to what looked like 6 year olds.

Then something dawned on me. None of them had tails. Or spiky hair like ours. I searched and I searched, but none of the kids looked like us. Raditz was right. We were the odd ones.

"You be right..." I said to Raditz, quietly. "We're the odd ones."

Raditz cocked his head. "Whaddya mean?"

"Remember when I asked you if all them kids looked like the ones in your book? And you said we were the odd ones, with our tails and hair and all, and you said they'd be pickin' on us if we ever be goin' to the outdoors."

Raditz smiled. "Oh yeah, I remember that! I guess I was right, K."

"I'm happy we didn't leave the house." I said, relieved.

"What? You be scared? Ya can't stand up for yourself?"

"Shut up."

Raditz just laughed. I continued to stare out the window with envy, watching the children play happily.

"You be careful, boy, you gonna turn into one o' them jacked up watchers." Raditz said jokingly.

I didn't reply. I knew for a fact that I wanted to go outside even more now. I also knew that even though my mother says many things, not all of them are true. The outside world definitely is not as bad as she described. I felt anger then, remembering how she would always come home, huffing and puffing as if she had ran the whole distance back. She would tell us that she had been through an angry mob or some load of lies like that, and burn into our brains that outside was unsafe and that the watchers guard the whole perimeter and shoot you if they see something they don't like.

She had just been spoon feeding us those fibs our entire lives. But why? 'To keep us safe.' something in the back of my mind said. I know she just wanted to keep us out of harm's way, but 20 years of it is kind of a long stretch, isn't it?

I think now is the perfect time for a rebellion, don't you think? I'll take Raditz with me, I bet he'll be proud that I can finally do something myself. I won't try to escape the region, no, we'll get to that soon enough. I just want to get outside. I'll take this one step at a time, but I don't know when I can put my plan into action.

**I'm kinda "meh" about this chapter, it's not as good as the first. :P I'll get right to work on finishing the third chapter, I won't be lazy this time, I promise.**


	3. Entry 3

**You'd better be happy with me. I wrote a nice long chapter for you. :P Not much else to say except I'll have a new chapter of Hunt up in a couple hours.**

**...DBZ... HA HA IT'S FINALLY MINE! Just kidding. It's not. DX**

Entry 3:

When Momma got home yesterday, she knew something was wrong. "Boys!" she roared, dumping her bags on the kitchen table. Raditz and I were talking over our escape plan. I was right, he was proud of me.

"Good, good, we be getting outta this hole soon, K, soon." he had said with a smile. When we heard Momma yell for us, we knew we were probably in trouble. When we entered the kitchen, Momma was glaring and tapping her foot.

"What you boys be doing' while I was shoppin'?"

"Nothin' Momma," I said, taking the lead. "We be doin' the regular things."

Momma raised an eyebrow. "Did you rascals be goin' outdoors?" she asked sternly.

"No Momma," piped up Raditz. "After all them terrible things you'd be telling us about the outside, we never be goin' out there."

I had to hide my smirk. That sounded so out of character for Raditz, it was scary. I'm surprised Momma bought it. Her glare relaxed, though she still looked suspicious.

"Good. You boys be listening to the things I be sayin'." Raditz and I smiled. Momma turned around and started to unpack the groceries she had bought. "Now, you boys tell your father not to eat them groceries I bought. We need to be eatin' a good dinner for once." she said, not looking at us.

"Sure thing Momma." Raditz replied, looking down at me and motioning to the door leading to the room we share. I nodded as a reply.

"We gonna be in our room Momma," Raditz told her, and without waiting for a reply, grabbed my arm like he always does and pulled me to our room to plot some more. Raditz sat there, waiting for me to say something.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothin'. I just excited." he replied, jumping up and down on the bed like a child.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Me too."

But enough of yesterday, let's talk about today.

This morning, I got up extra early, and snuck down the hallway to the back door. I looked behind me many times to make sure nobody was behind me and that I was the only one awake, and put my hand on the doorknob. I only wanted to see if the back door was a better and safer way to escape rather than the front door.

I opened the door as softly as I could, and peeked around the door to the land behind the house. Suddenly, I heard voices. My eyes flashed, and I backed up.

I was still curious, so I peeked around the door to find two young boys and what looked to be their mother, in the... yard next to ours.

"You boys be idiots!" the mother yelled, raising a hand like she was going to slap someone. Both the boys flinched.

The oldest looked to be about my age, maybe a year or two older. He had spiky hair that stood up straight in the air like a black flame, and cold, dark, narrowed eyes. He too wore two sizes too big clothes, and he looked like he had been through a lot during his life. He was the most unfriendly looking person I had ever seen, but then again, I haven't seen too many people in my life. What surprised me the most was the stiffened monkey tail protruding from his lower back.

His brother was the same, with spiky black hair and a tail. His hair wasn't as tall, with one lock of it hanging into his thin face. His eyes were wide, and he looked to be about 10.

"YOU!" yelled the boys' mother, directing her attention to the older boy. "You a terrible example t' your brother! And a everyday pain t' me! You got no right t' be here ya little jerk! I should throw ya outta here, let them Utopia idiots shoot ya right through the head!"

I didn't know they were called Utopians, we just called them watchers for as long as I can remember.

The boys' mother slapped the older boy right across the face, but he didn't even wince. I saw the other boy gasp, and a red hand mark starting to show itself on the pale skin of the boy's cheek.

I was surprised to see the boy simply smirk. He began to laugh. "Ya scared of me? Is that it? Ya know I'm too strong for my own good?" he chuckled, his voice sounding older than he looked.

"Both o' you, stay out here till I come t' get ya, I don't wanna see ya for another week!" yelled the mother, kicking the older boy in the shins, hard. I saw him wince this time, reaching a hand out to cover the hurt spot, and the mother stalked away and entered the house, slamming the door behind her.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, the younger brother didn't seem like he wanted to say anything.

"You," rasped the older boy, looking right at me. "Who are you?"

My eyes widened, I looked around, then shut the door, stepping into the early morning light. "Me?" I asked timidly.

"No, I was talkin' to the trees o'er there." When I didn't reply, the boy shook his head. "I was talkin' t' ya. It was sarcasm." his tone suggested he thought I was a complete idiot.

"I'm... I'm Kakarot. Who're you?"

"Why should I tell you?" sneered the boy, a dirty smile curling his lips.

"I dunno, I told you who I was."

"Really? Well, here's the scoop, ya can't trust nobody 'round here. And I've never seen ya, in fact, I didn't have no clue our neighbors had any kids."

"That's only 'cause my momma never lets us outta the house." I replied, sticking my nose in the air, figuring if he could have an attitude, I could too.

"An' why is that?" snarked the boy. "She think you're too weak? Too _fragile _for the real worl'?"

His emphasis on the word fragile ticked me off. "I ain't fragile!" I protested, my fists clenching at my sides.

"You wanna prove it?" the boy snarled, standing up abruptly and raising his fists.

"Brother!" the younger boy shrieked. "You'll get us in trouble again!"

The older boy's lip twitched. "Shut up! Tha' old bat hates me 'lready."

The younger brother fell backwards, most likely not used to his brother yelling at him.

"You wanna know who I am?" asked the boy, straightening his shirt, his lip twitching. He bowed, a dirty smirk graced his face when he rose back up. "Prince Vegeta."

"And Prince Tarble." piped up the littler boy, bowing like his brother.

"The misunderstood royalty of Region 439."

"Misunderstood?" I asked, confused.

"Them Utopians don't know royalty when they see 'em. They shot our dad when he tried to get 'em to keep us outta here. Then that ol' bat found us and took us in." Vegeta spat on the ground, then rubbed the saliva into the dirt with his sock.

"An' your mom?" I asked, then cringed when I saw Vegeta look up. He had that kind of look that felt like if you made him mad, he'd burn into your soul when he stared at you.

"I dunno. Dead, prob'ly," he trailed off, turning to glance at his brother. "It's a darn shame, us bein' from this kinda bloodline, and bein' treated like... like crap."

I scratched my nose, simply because I didn't want to stand there like an idiot. I hoped desperately no one had woken up yet so I could sneak back inside unnoticed.

Vegeta startled me with a sudden snort. "Ya uncomfortable?" he asked.

"No, I just... gotta get back in." I answered. Then an idea hit me. "Me and my brother are gonna try t' get outta the region. Ya wanna come?"

"Only if Tarble can go too." was the immediate reply. "I mean, I've had'ta look 'fter him his whole life, I ain't leavin' him here, and he's too soft. He wouldn't last a day 'thout me."

Tarble nodded, looking like he wanted to just latch himself on Vegeta's arm. I thought about this for a moment. Would a fragile little ten year old be a good asset to our team? It seemed like he would be just one more thing to protect. Vegeta, however, seemed like he could fare for himself. Himself _and _Tarble, if they managed to live this long. I decided it was okay.

"Sure, I guess..." Vegeta could tell I looked uncertain.

"Listen. I wanna get outta here just as much as you do, and I swear I can take care o' Tarble just fine. You won't hafta do nothin'." he said, his piercing gaze turning to one of pleading.

"I said okay!" I replied, holding my hands up in surrender. "Just one more question 'fore I go in, how old're you two?"

"Me? I'm turnin'..." he stopped to think and counted on his fingers for a moment. I had to stop myself from snickering. "17. I'm turnin' 17 in a couple o' months."

"I'm almost ten!" interrupted Tarble, a grin spread over his thin face.

I thought for a moment. How would we be able to meet again? Then it hit me. The food. The food Momma bought. Me and Raditz could eat it all, then Momma would have to go out and buy more. Dad would be at work, he could never take days off unless he was really sick. This would work perfectly.

"Tomorrow." I spoke up. Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "We'll meet tomorrow. I'll bring Raditz. You guys'll be out here, right?"

"You heard the hag," Vegeta said. "She don't want us in the house no more till she tells us we can."

"Good. I'll see ya tomorrow."

When I went back inside, I managed to sneak past my sleepy dad, who was just getting up. I snuck back into bed like nothing happened, a victorious smile sneaking its way onto my face.

**YAYZ VEGETA'S HERE! I'm trying to listen to Vocaloids but my brother and sister are watching Adventure Time and it's distracting me. DO I TYPE AND SING ALONG TO MIKU OR HAVE AN ADVENTURE WITH FINN AND JAKE?**


	4. Entry 4

**Ugh, short chapters... next chapter's gonna be REALLY short, but really important. Things are beginning to launch into action. I have the ending all thought out, but you guys might not be very happy with me... I CAN'T SAY TOO MUCH!**

**Oh, and DBZ, yeah, it's owned by someone that ****_doesn't_**** sit on the couch with their mom's laptop writing fanfics all afternoon listening to rock and dubstep. So basically, it's now owned by me.**

Entry 4:

Later that day, I told Raditz about Vegeta and Tarble. At first he was mad, yelling things like, "You idiot! You let 'em see ya!" and "What'f one o' them decides to tattle? What're we gonna do then?"

"Calm down! Vegeta looks like a fighter, he could be a big help!" I protested, talking as if I were writing. With grammar.

"An' what 'bout that lil' kid? What help is he?" Raditz countered, throwing his hands in the air.

I cringed. "I thought 'bout that..." I trailed off. "I didn't wanna turn 'im down too. He and his brother're so close..."

"We all gotta lose somethin'." Raditz said. He sighed. "If you ain't gonna tell 'em they can't come, I will."

"Vegeta's almost 17." I muttered, knowing I was fighting a losing battle against my brother. "You won't hafta hang around with no little kids. He's only three years younger, but he acts like he's your age."

Raditz considered this. "Fine. But I ain't gonna feel sorry if one o' them gets killed." I smiled. Raditz responded with some sort of half smile, ruffling my hair and flattening my bangs like he used to do when I was little. "The only things I'm lookin' after're myself and my lil' brother."

That remark made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It really had been a while since Raditz had shown this much affection towards me. I know he would hate for me to bring this up in front of anyone else; he always acted like such a tough guy.

I told Raditz about my plan to eat all the food and get Momma out of the house, and he smirked evilly, complimenting me on my streak of well thought out plans.

While Momma was busy outside with something and Dad was still at work, Raditz and I broke into the food Momma had just bought and ate all of it. Every single last bite. I hoped Dad came home before Momma got inside because she'd probably blame him for the food being gone. Dad probably wouldn't care anyways, he always just grunts whenever Momma lectures him about "how much money she has to spend buying food for us pigs".

Thankfully, my hope became a reality.

"Bardock!" Momma roared when she saw the empty pantry.

"Wha?" Dad yelled back.

"I just bought that food! Why'd ya go an' eat it all?!"

A simple grunt was all that Dad replied with.

"Now I gotta go buy s'more food tomorrow! An' what're ya gonna do with that food? You gonna eat it all! Tha's what! A waste o' money, I say! One day, Imma run outta money to buy food for you! An' you gonna either starve, or get food with your own money!"

When Momma's rant was finished, Dad grunted again.

I smiled. Everything was working as planned.

That was yesterday. Today Raditz and I went to go meet Vegeta and Tarble in their backyard. It actually wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be.

Vegeta whistled when he saw Raditz's hair, Tarble and I snickered, and Raditz growled.

"Don't blow this," I muttered to Vegeta. "It took me a lot to get 'im to agree with me 'bout lettin' you guys in."

Vegeta nodded, though it didn't look like he was listening. "So, when're we leavin'?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

I shrugged. "Soon, I hope."

"We're shootin' for sometime this week." Raditz butted in.

"We got a game plan?" asked Vegeta.

"No, not yet." I said.

"Good enough."

Silence. This was awkward.

"Two days?" asked Tarble suddenly.

"Wha?" I asked.

"We gonna leave in two days?"

"Um, yeah, sure. That sound good Raditz?"

Raditz shrugged. "I don't care."

"We'll come an' get you guys, ok?" I said, wanting to go back inside.

"Ok." the two boys said.

When we were inside, Raditz turned to me. "Are you sure you wanna have them kids come along too?" he asked me, obviously doubting what I had told him before.

"Please Raditz?" I begged. "Them two are princes, Misunderstood Royalty they call themselves, they've been through a lot, more than we ever have, an' they have more o' a reason t' leave than we do. Can we please just take 'em along? It can be every sibling for 'imslef, I don't care, please?"

Raditz just stared at me. He sighed. "Fine. But I want nothin' to do with 'em. It'll be survival of the fittest."

**Awkward chapter much? I don't like it that much, but I need to have time to write another chapter of Hunt, so I guess it's as good as it'll get right now. XP**


	5. Entry 5

**... I don't own DBZ.**

Entry 5:

Raditz wants me to leave my journal here. He says we won't have room for it, and I won't have time to write in it anyways. He wants me...

He wants me to burn it.

"Burn the damn thing." he said, gesturing to my notebook. "We don't want Momma or Dad t' find it and read e'rythin' we planned after we're gone."

I don't want to burn it.

I'm gonna hide it. Somewhere no one could find it.

If anyone does find this, it probably means I'm dead. Because by the time we've succeeded, the Utopians will be taken down and everyone will be free. If I am dead...

Give this journal to my descendents. I want them to remember me as their relative.

Their brave relative that went out to change the world with his brother, rather than never remembering me at all.

***sigh* I didn't want to. Short, but powerful.**

**Son A**


	6. Conclusion?

**Oh geez, it's been a while... you can kick me. And you're probably going to hate me for this chapter. Sorry. I have a TOTALLY legit reason why I was so inactive. Two words. Death Note. I am obsessed with it. Like, OMFG THIS IZ GRATE obsessed. :| Yep. **

**Oh, and I don't own DBZ.**

_Chapter 6_

Pan shut the old book, only after flipping through the remaining pages. They were all blank, no more journal entries to be found. She bit her lip in thought, her brain reeling in confusion.

"Grandpa Raditz never told me he had a brother..." she said aloud trailing off.

Eight year old Pan Son had found the old notebook of her never-mentioned relative hidden away in her room, behind a loose board in her wall. Being a curious little girl, she opened it up and began to read.

Holding the book close to her chest, she exited the room and set out to find her grandfather. Instead, she found her father reading the newspaper in the kitchen. "Hey dad?" she asked.

"Yes Pan?" He didn't look away from the paper.

"Have you seen Grandpa Raditz around?"

"Last time I saw him, he was out back in the yard."

"Thanks Dad." Pan opened the back door and saw her grandfather planting flowers over the small lump in the ground that she wasn't allowed near. "Grandpa Radi?" Pan asked quietly, using her special nickname for him.

Raditz stood up abruptly, wiping his hands on his jeans and smiling at his granddaughter. "Hey Panny, what's up?"

She approached the man, holding the book up to his eye level. "Who's Kakarot? You never told me you had a brother."

The smile on Raditz's face dropped. "Where'd you find that?" He eyed the book with surprise, like it was an old, infamous, familiarity.

"There was a loose board on the wall in my room. It was like a hidden cupboard."

Raditz grabbed the book. "Is this what I think it is?" He flipped through the pages, and his eyes widened. "I thought I told him to burn this..." Raditz muttered.

"Um, who's he? Kakarot?" Pan scratched the back of her head.

"Panny, let's go sit down somewhere." Raditz suggested, faking a smile and gesturing to the set of benches closer to the house. When they were comfortable, Raditz sighed, and stared at the book with a look that clearly said despair.

"I've got a long story to tell you." he began. "You remember those stories I used to tell you about how life used to be back when I was a kid?"

Pan nodded. "Yeah. The ones with those 'Utopians' or whatever?"

"Mhm. You see, those were true, but I always left out one crucial part. My brother. Extraordinary kid. The brains of the family, future author, really set on getting what he believed in. He and I were the bestest of friends. I laugh looking back on it. Anyways, you read the book, so you know what happened. He got stuck on a dream about snapping the world right again. At the time, we were young, crazy, and... well, stupid. We thought it was great idea."

"I know that, Grandpa! Get to the point, what happened after the book was cut off?" Pan giggled at her grandfather's long explanation.

"Easy Panny, I'm getting there! As you know, I told him to burn the journal. Leave no evidence of our plan. Turns out he was too attracted to the book to get rid of it. Hid it away real good. Left his dying message on the last page to anyone smart enough to find it."

"Dying message?" Pan asked. "So he's dead?"

Raditz grimaced. "Yes." Silence. "Do you want me to go on?"

Pan nodded. "I'm a big girl, I can handle it."

"You're right." Raditz smiled. "So, Kakarot, that sneaky kid, brought along some extra paper out of the journal. He wrote new entries in secret. Couldn't bear to part with writing. We were doing good, successfully snuck past the Utopians, even with little Tarble hanging behind us. Then, everything went wrong. We were finally at the capital city, where only the really rich and the evil behind it all lived."

"What about Tarble and Vegeta? Are they dead too?" Pan interrupted.

"Panny, Panny, that would spoil the story! Let me finish!"

Pan giggled. "Okay, okay."

"We were ready to barge in there and save the day. But we had no plan. We had no idea how we would get such an evil man to agree with four kids. We thought we could wing it and sneak in, and even if we did get caught, no one would have the heart to kill kids. Can you guess what went wrong?"

"_You_ were wrong?" Pan guessed.

"Yep. We were caught by the Utopian guards. Tarble gave us away. He was the first one to be shot. Poor thing hadn't even reached double digits yet. He was only a year and a half older than you actually. Can you imagine it?"

"That's sad." Pan _couldn't_ imagine someone so young dying like that. It was horrible.

"Vegeta went absolutely nuts. You know how much he loved his brother, right? He was the only thing that could keep him under control. Vegeta ended up snapping the guard's neck, and that was not a pretty sight, I'll tell you that. The other guard freaked out and shot at Vegeta, but in his haste, he missed and the bullet hit my brother." Raditz stopped.

"Grandpa Radi? Are you okay?" Pan asked, feeling sad even though she had never met these people.

Raditz nodded. "I'm fine Panny baby. I can finish. Hit him right in the stomach. I will never forget the look on his face when he fell. My little brother, eyes wide and clutching his stomach, probably thinking he had been wrong, terribly wrong, and he never should have had such a crazy dream. I remember catching him when he toppled over, yelling his name. He died with his eyes wide open, kid didn't even know what was going on, most likely. Vegeta was practically psycho by then, he went seriously mad, lost his marbles. Picked up the dead guard's gun and shot the other guard, right through the head with a perfect shot. He dropped to his knees, still holding the gun, and yelled really loud. He gave us away. The gunshots and screaming attracted attention, and we could hear more guards coming. Vegeta grabbed Tarble and ran, really fast. No goodbyes, no come with me's. He just ran for his life. Haven't seen him since. For all I know, he's dead."

"What did you do then?" asked Pan, on the edge of her seat.

"The only smart thing. I grabbed Kakarot and ran. Right out of the city, and nobody questioned why I had a dead body over my shoulder. I ran all the way home, found my parents were still out in a frantic search party. I found his secret notes in his pockets. I still have them."

"What'd you do with Kakarot?"

"Buried him. Right there." Raditz turned and pointed to the lump in the ground with the flowers. "That's why you're not allowed over there."

Pan smiled. "That's nice of you. Can I plant flowers there? Please?"

"How can I say no to you? Of course you can."

"I only have two more questions. One, does Daddy know about your brother?"

"Yes. Only I told him when he was older. Maybe around 15 or so."

"And two, the world's a better place now. How'd it get like that?"

"Ah, you see, Kakarot and Tarble's deaths evened everything out in the end. When my mom finally found me in the backyard, sleeping next to Kakarot's burial spot, she freaked out, and demanded to know everything that happened. And I told her. Surprisingly, I didn't get in trouble. Word got around all the regions, and everyone was outraged. Utopians claimed they only killed people who deserved it, and that's just how it was. But when it came to killing innocent kids, that's where it crossed the line. the people started a rebellion, and soon the Utopians were forced to back down. They sent a search party out for Vegeta, but I have no idea if they found him or not. Probably ran out into the woods and killed himself in grief."

Silence again. "I'm sorry." Pan scooted over and hugged her grandpa. Raditz hugged back.

"Don't be. Without Kakarot's crazy dream, you'd be living in a world no one's free."

"Can I read the other entries?" Pan asked, looking up at her grandpa.

"Sure Panny. I've got them in a drawer in my room. The pages might be fragile though, so be careful. Gee, that was a while ago..."

"Don't say that Grandpa Radi, you don't look a day over 20!"

"You're so sweet. Speaking of my age, I've got a couple of pictures if you wanna see what Grandpa Kakarot looked like."

"Yeah! And when we're done, can I plant the flowers?"

"If we have time, Panny, if we have time."

**I think this is a pretty good ending, but I will leave this fic as incomplete because I want to know what you guys think. Should I leave it here? Or do you want to hear the secret entries? REVIEW AND TELL ME. (o^^)o fist bump.**


	7. Entry 6

**IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?! Well it should be, I took like, 45 minutes out of my day to write this. I know it's short, but lil' Kakarot will explain why. So don't kill me. Please.**

**私が所有していないドラゴンボール****Z****を行う**

**I really hope Google Translate didn't just screw me over or something...**

Entry 6:

Raditz is not going to be happy with me. I ripped pages out of my notebook and brought them with me. I want to record what happens so I don't have to explain everything to anyone. It'll be less complicated. But it'll be short. I probably won't have enough time to record every single detail, because the only time I'll have to write is at night. And I need sleep too. I have to be as alert as I can and not be nodding off while I'm on lookout.

To start off, we left the house today and met up with Vegeta & Tarble. We didn't leave a note for Momma or Dad to read, but we can't go back now. We've already gotten so far in one day.

Raditz and Vegeta have decided to take the lead while Tarble and me hang behind. None of the townspeople gave us odd looks as we walked through town with bags on our backs, no matter how suspicious we looked, and I don't think any of them noticed our tails. I was surprised by the small amount of stares we got. I was supposed to be on lookout for Vegeta and Tarble's... well... guardian, as well as Momma or Dad.

So far, we've only had about one close call. Tarble was blabbering while I was on watch, (once you start a conversation with this kid, there's no going back) and he started talking about... well, it's hard to explain, so I'll just write it as I remember.

"-an' it tasted _real _bad, so Vegeta, heh heh, Vegeta- hey, lookit that guy, he's gotta _huge _scar on his face! Wha'ever gave 'im that thing musta' hurt a lot! An' I don't see anyone else with a... wha's it called again? Yo Kaka, wha's that thing you wrap aroun' your head an' it looks like you got hurt on your head?"

At that point, my eyes flashed in recognition. Tarble was talking about my father. "Bandana, Tarble." I hissed. "An' that's my dad you pointed out!"

"Oh," Tarble began, then opened his mouth to say something else, but I cut him off.

"An' so maybe we should let Vegeta an' Raditz know?" I hinted, rushing up to the other two and whispering the sighting in Raditz's ear.

"We gotta hide." he told Vegeta, who nodded without question. The four of us had to sneak quickly, but quietly, across the road and duck under a canopy. We stayed in the shadows for the rest of our walk, and we didn't see anyone else we knew.

Right now, we're camping in the woods about a quarter of a mile away from the boundary line of mountain region number 439. I'm the only one awake, besides Vegeta, but he's outside and armed with a rather large knife.

I've gotta say, this almost too easy. We've only had one complication so far. It doesn't seem right. I'm not saying I want something bad to happen, but I've got this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Maybe all this good luck is leading up to something terrible. I'm starting to almost reconsider my decision...

**:T Yah. I'll get right to work on the next chapter. K bai. **


	8. Entry 7

**I'm honestly surprised none of you have tracked me down and killed me for not updating this for three months. I AM SO SORRY. To make up for my horrible laziness, here's a longer entry, where we get some more insight on Vegeta's character. **

**And I still don't own DBZ. No matter how much I wanna. **

Entry 7:

Today was _crazy_.

To start off the madness, in the morning, we found out it had rained that night and that the ground was extremely muddy. Vegeta had fallen asleep halfway through look out duty, which he had been very mad about. He woke up drenched and grumpy, two qualities that did not go good with Vegeta's already fiery temper.

As we packed up from last night, Raditz had pointed out that we would be leaving footprints if we traveled through all the mud. Vegeta had let loose a long string of colorful curse words, causing Tarble to cringe and cover his ears.

Tarble is so small and innocent, and he's a very lively kid. He makes me feel like I have a younger brother. Last night, he kept on talking about how he was really excited to turn 10 in a couple days, and he hoped that we'd "be havin' freedom" on the day he reached double digits. In fact he'd gone on and on until he suddenly stopped and fell asleep. It was kinda cute.

Anyways, we had to step on tree roots, logs and rocks in order to continue without leaving a trace of us behind. Soon enough, the mud had dried and we were able to walk normally.

But not even ten minutes had gone by when we realized something was wrong.

We should've been at the boundary line by now.

We'd taken a wrong turn.

It wasn't too long until we realized something else was wrong.

Tarble was missing.

Vegeta freaked out and refused to go any further without backtracking to find his little brother. He was panicking and running through the woods, all control lost. Raditz quickly ripped off a scrap of his shorts and hung it on a nearby tree to mark where we'd been, then followed Vegeta.

You wanna know what I think? I think Vegeta has problems controlling himself, problems keeping his anger from becoming harmful, problems that could very easily turn violent. I think Tarble keeps him from snapping. His small, innocent little brother, who he could never hurt. His younger brother, who calms him down and loves him more than anyone ever could. Without him, Vegeta loses all sense of control and everything in his line of vision is a potential threat. To him. And to his little brother.

So as I watched him streak through the trees, yelling Tarble's name, I saw fear in his eyes.

Vegeta is afraid.

Of what, I don't know. Losing his brother? Going insane? Both?

Whatever it was, we had to find Tarble.

About five minutes later, we found him. Not too far off the path we were going on, but still far enough to be considered lost. Vegeta launched himself at Tarble, grabbing him and hugging him until Tarble mumbled that he was " bein' embarrassin' " and "you're crushin' my ribs!"

So Vegeta let go, visibly relaxing, and we set back to find where we were before. It took about an hour to find our place and get back on the right path. By that time I was so tired I was ready to just sleep right there.

But later, we'd finally reached the boundary lines, where there were a bunch of guards standing and defending the line. From our hiding places, we overheard two of them talking.

"I hate this job." One of them had said.

"Me too, but it gets us money, right?" replied the other.

"Yeah... and God knows we need some money around here these days. King Cold's been slackin' off and we haven't been paid well. So much for Utopia."

"I wouldn't complain. You know he watches every corner of his land, and all the regions. He'd have your head for insulting him."

"Let him hear me complain! Nothing ever happens here, everyone knows not to cross the lines! And if he's got cameras 'round every inch of this place, why does he need us?"

I heard the rustle of a uniform; I guessed the second guard had shrugged. "It's probably just a bluff to get us to listen to him."

"We're better off just livin' in one of the regions. I wouldn't mind it."

At that point, the conversation came to a stop and silence proceeded. Vegeta decided to take action, without telling any of us his plan.

He bent down and picked up a rock, throwing it a good distance to the left of us. It hit a tree and clattered to the ground. This caught the guards' attention, and they peeked in that direction and ran over to investigate.

Once they were out of the way, Vegeta picked up Tarble and quickly and quietly bolted over past the boundary line. Seeing nothing else to do, Raditz and I followed behind. We all ran for our lives until we ran out of breath.

The sense of dread in the pit of my stomach probably grew twice as big that day.

As we pitched up our base for the night, I tried figuring out why I felt so unsafe and frightened.

I decided that it was only because we were doing something so crazy, and that I'd never done anything like this before, and we were gonna be just fine.

At least I hope so.

**...King Cold being king was the result of my burned out and uncreative brain. Deal with it. :P Hopefully I'll stop being a big fat lazy pants and update my three in progress stories more. But this fic is coming to a close... See you in the next entry!**


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